Combined reserve fuel control and lock for automobiles



Dec. 25, 1923.

A. o. WEBER COMBINED'RESERVE FUEL CONTROL AND LOCK FOR AUTOMOBILES 2Sheet s-Sheet 1 ..F1i1ed May '15. 1922 Dec. 25, 1923. 1,478,807

- A. o. WEBER I COMBINED RESERVE FUEL CONTROL AND LOCK FOR AUTOMOBILESFiled May 15. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 jazz-$42 02 a 7 02 W J z! 62'2034525 Patented Dec. 25, 1923. v

UNITED STATES ARTHUR o. wanna, on

Application filed Ma 15,

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, ARTHUR O. WEBER, acitizen of the United States, residing at Euclid Heights, in the countyof Guyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Combined Reserve Fuel Controls and Looks for Automobiles,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to devices used in connection with the operationof internal the tankand may be then operated forenabling the reservesupply 'to be used. An advantage of this arrangement is that the driveris effectively forewarned of the low fuel supply, before the actualsupply is exhausted. v

Another object is the provision of a mechanism which may be readilyattached to existing fuel supply systems and to provide a valvemechanism which mustbe reset to operative position before the supplytank cover can be removed for filling purposes.

v Other objects include the arrangement of manually operable elementsand valve mechanism sothat the valve mav'be closed and locked, thuscutting off the fuel supply, and providing an additional locking meansto prevent surreptitious driving of the motor vehicle.

The means for carrying out my invention will be fully set forth in thefollowing de scription, whichpertains to'the accompanying drawings,'andthe e's'sential'features will be summarized in the claims.

Inthe drawings, Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic section through a portion of amotor'vehicle showing a supply tank and fuel conduit having a deviceconstructed in accordance with my invention attached thereto; Fig. 2 isa plan view of the portion of the motor vehicle shownin Fig. landshowing one position-of thefvalve operating lever used with myinvention; Fig. 3 is a similar fragmentary view showing another positionof the valve control lever; Fig. 4. is a plan view of the lever removedfrom the motor vehicle and ease? PATENT OFFICE.

EUCLID HEIGHTS, OHIO.

COMBINED RESERVE FUEL CONTROL AND LOCK FOB; AUTOMOBILES. I g

1922. Serial No. 561,147.

showing the locked position; Fig. 5 is a sec tion on an enlarged scaleand through the device embodying my invention; Fig. 6, 7,8

and 9 are sections through the valve mechings by the'use of referencecharacters, 10'

indicates a fuel tank, 11 a sediment basin, and 12 a supply conduit fora fuelsystem used on motor vehicles. The supply tank is shown as mountedbeneath the front seat 18 and above the floor boards 14:,- as shown inFig. 1. My inventionis adapted to be placed in the supply lineintermediate the tank and engine, and broadly embodies two conduitsleading from the tank, at different levels, to a common discharge linewithvalve mechanism associated therewith for controlling the flow,through either conduit as desired. In the embodiment shown, however, oneof these conduits is illustrated as a bypass. i

In connecting the bypass to the mainline,

I refer to'employ a single piece structure,

having a straight passageway 15 extending therethrough, and having abypass passageway 16, which merges with the straight 1 passage adjacentthe end which is adapted to be connected to the sediment basin, as at17. The end adjacent the junction of the main and bypass passageways, asat '18, is

adapted to receive a flanged member 19 attached to the supply conduit12. The bypass is shown as a U-shaped conduit, the

I top of which extends above the bottom of trally disposed opening 26with laterally disposed ports extending therefrom in such manner, as toregister with the passageways .15 and20, or supply'conduit '12, asdesired.

The port for providing communication with the PassagewayQO ";1 .in11cated at 21?.

adjacent theupper end of the opening 26, while those disposed adj acentthe lower passageways are indicated at 28 and 29., re: spectively.

When the valve is turned to the position shown in Figs. 6 and 17 thenthe passage way 20 is open and the passageway 15 is closed. Thus fuel iscaused to flow through the bypass 16 passage 20, port 27 opening 26,port 29 and then into the supply conduit 12. A vent30 extending upwardlyfrom the top of the bypass to a'point adjacent the top allows the liquidto flow through the bypass until it reaches a point where the seal isbroken, as at 31, in Fig. 5.

1 To permit the passage of fuel through the main passageway 15, thevalve is turned to the positionindicated in Fig. 9 wherein the port 28is in registration with the passage way 15 and the port v27 is out ofregistration with the passageway 20. This permits the remaining fuel inthetank to flow into the fuel conduit when the valve is turned to theposition shown in Fig. '8, both the ports 27 and 28 are outofregistration with their respective passageways, and hence the supplyis stopped.

To turn the valve to the various positions, indicated in Figs. 6 to 9, Ihave shown a valvestem 35 which extends upwardly from the valve andterminates, as shown in Fig. 11, adjacent an arm 36 to which it may berigidly attached. This arm is adapted to be supported in a bracket 37which in turn may be attached to a vehicle body, as shown in Fig. 1. Thebracket is illustrated in Fig. 4 as having a segment 38 projectinglaterally therefrom and as having an opening 39 which is adapted .toregister with a corresponding opening 40 in the arm 36, and operatinglever 41, whereby the valve may be locked in closed position. The lever41 may comprise an extension of the arm 36, but I have shown it as aseparate member rigidly attached to the arm and provided withan'extension piece- 42, which projects over the cover 43 of the fueltank.

In normal runningposition, that is, when the fuel flows'through thebypass 16, the positionof the extension 42, as shown in Fig. 2, is suchas to permit the cover 43 to be removed. Then'w-hen the fuel has beenused to such an extent that it is necessary to use the reserve supplythe valve is shifted to cause the fiowof fuel through the main pas- Ysageway 15. To move the walve to this position, it is necessaryto raisetheseat '13 and to insert a tool, such as a screw driver, into aslot 44,thus drawing-the extension across the cover. This" is accomplishedthrough the usual hand opening 45 in the plate beneath the seat,Suitable characters, as indicated "in Fig.3, by the "word Emptyibe.pieced on the-eXtensiompieceiso as to The operation. of the deviceconstructed in accordance with my invention is as follows Assuming thatfuel is in the tank 10 and that the bypass is connected to the supplyline, then the valve operatinglever is placed in the position indicatedin Fig. 2, thus bringing t'l'ie port 27 into registration with thepassageway 20 and causing fuel to flow through the bypass 16. The enginethen operates on fuel flowing through the bypass until the level withinthe supply tank drops to point where the seal at the top of the bypassis broken. The operator is warned of this condition, obviously bystoppage of the engine. Then the lever 41 is moved to the positionindicatedin Fig. 3 whereuponthe port 27'is moved out of registrationwith the passageway '20, and the port '28 is brought into registrationwith the passageway 15, thus causing fuel to flow through the mainpassageway and into the supply conduit 12.

Vhen the operating lever is moved to this last mentioned position thewarning characters on the extension piece serve to indicate thenecessity for more fuel. Before the tank is filled, however, it isnecessary to turn the lever 41 back to the position indicated in Fig. 2,thus insuring a turning of the valve to bring the port '27 intoregistration with the passageway 15, so

that the device is automatically reset when main passageway 15 or bypass16.

In view of the foregoing description, it will be seen that my inventionprovides an automatic indicator which positivel maintains a reserve fuelsupply, and whic must be reset tothe operative position beforeadditional fuel can be inserted in the supply tank. In addition, thedevice maybe readily attached toexisting motor vehicles withoutnecessitating extensive changes in the fuel line. A further advantage isthat a positive lock maybe obtained against the removal of'fuel from thesupply tank whenever desired.

Having thus claim lneembinatioma tuelsupply a described my invention, '1

' venting the flowof fuel through either the V,

device having a main conduit and a. bypass conduit therein, means forconnecting the device to the tank below the bottom of the tank, thebypass conduit extending parallel to the main conduit adjacent one endof the device, and a valve having a central passageway with lateralpassageways extending radially therefrom adapted to comunicate with therespective parallel conduits, and means whereby the valve may beoperated to control the flow of fuel.

2. In combination, a fuel supply tank having an outlet in the bottomthereof, and having an inlet opening in the top, a closure for theinlet, a sediment basin connected with the outlet and having a laterallyextending passageway, a device having a main conduit and a bypassconduit, a valve carried by the device at the junction of the main andbypass conduits, the other end of the device being connected to thepassageway in the sediment basin, a valve stem extending upwardly fromthe valve and projecting above the top of the tank, and meansassociconnected thereto, a' self-contained device attached to said basinand having a main conduit and a bypass conduit, the bypass conduitprojecting above the bottom, of the tank and extending parallel to themain conduit adjacent the end of the device re mote from the basin, avalve extending transversely of the conduits and arranged to control thepassage of fuel through either of said conduits, a valve stem projectingabove the tank, a shield having a width suflicie-nt to entirely coversaid closure whereby access to the closure is prevented until the valvestem is moved to predetermined position.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature.

ARTHUR o. WEBER.

